•CLE-in-a-Box, a
25-hour CD audio pack (including materials), with information on how to apply
the programs to either participatory or self-study credit. This package is also
available on-demand;

•CLE
Required Subjects Bundle/6-Pack, containing the six hours of
required subjects (4 hours ethics, 1 hour prevention of substance abuse, 1 hour
elimination of bias), and available as a CD set or on-demand;

•Live programs,
a full listing of which is available on LACBA’s web site, under its calendar of
January programs;

•Online CLE
Catalog of hundreds of programs available in a variety of formats, including
on-demand audio and video, audio CD, and CD/DVD video;

-Self-study
articles and CLE tests for one hour of CLE credit each, through Los Angeles
Lawyer magazine; and

•CLE+
Membership, which includes free access or substantially reduced prices to most
live programs.

For more information visit www.lacba.org, or
call LACBA member services at (213) 896-6560.

•The 10th Annual Entertainment and Media Law
Conference
will be held on Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013, at Loews Hollywood Hotel.

The conference,
presented by Southwestern Law School’s Donald E. Biederman Entertainment and
Media Law Institute and the Media Law Resource Center, will explore issues such
as copyright protection and right-of-publicity in the new digital environment.

Three discussion
panels will be presented:

•“TV Everywhere
– Copyright Protection Nowhere or Somewhere?”;

•“Content
without Borders: Issues in International Production and Distribution”; and

•“Rights (and
Wrongs) of Publicity: The Evolving Law of Misappropriation.”

•“Best Practices
in Hiring - Avoiding the Landmines,” presented by the business law and
employment law sections, Jan. 9 at noon, with attorney Jeffrey S. Thomas.
Topics include employment applications, interviews, the “Googling” of
applicants, the I-9 process, offer letters and more;

•“Do’s and
Don’ts in the Courtroom,” presented by the Litigation Section Jan. 9 at 7:00
p.m. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Lisa Hart Cole will give an update on
the court;

•“Marijuana
Laws: What’s the Latest?,” presented by the Criminal Law Section Jan. 10 at
6:00 p.m. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Melvin Sandvig and attorneys Eric
Shevin and Ariel Clark will discuss the laws pertaining to marijuana, including
the business and corporate side of the medical marijuana industry;

•“Cancellation
of Debt Income” with Attorney Layton Pace, presented by the Taxation Law
Section Jan. 15 at noon.

All events take place at the San Fernando Valley Bar
Association, 5567 Reseda Boulevard, Suite 200, Tarzana, CA 91356.

•The State Bar’s
Office of Chief Trial Counsel ended 2012 with an investigations
backlog of just five cases, and a lower-than-expected backlog of 232 complaints
where investigations had been completed but formal charges not yet filed, the
State Bar said in a release yesterday.

Cases are
considered backlogged if they have not been disposed of, or formal charges have
not been brought, within six months of the State Bar receiving them.

The State Bar
also saw an increase in the number of discipline trials that began in 2012 –
176 compared to 101 in 2011 and 112 in 2010, according to the release.

The release
notes that this is the first time in decades the investigations backlog has
been eliminated, and the State Bar has pledged to continue to keep those
numbers low.

“By maintaining
a zero backlog, we are slowly showing our constituency, the people of
California, that we are deadly serious about meeting our regulatory
responsibility,” Executive Director/CEO Joe Dunn said in the release.

Chief Trial
Counsel Jayne Kim is also quoted:

“This year,
probably the biggest factor is that we started out with zero,” adding that not
having old cases to worry about at the start of last year left investigators
free to focus on newer ones.

The State Bar
offered additional training for prosecutors last year and used supervising
investigators to help track aging cases per the release.

Kim’s office
plans to continue to look at ways of increasing efficiency by continuing to
strengthen its audit processes and holding additional summits with law
enforcement and other outside agencies, the release says.